Nominations for Academy Awards, two nominations to the Oscars, several Indian awards and creating new landmarks in Box Office history – Vidhu Vinod Chopra has experienced success and how!
Chopra was talented – something you just couldn’t deny. Right from his first venture while he was still studying film making - Murder At Monkey Hill – which won the National Film Award for Best Short Experimental Film and the Guru Dutt Memorial Award for Best Student Film to his latest venture 3 Idiots which broke all box office records – the man has tasted success throughout!
Chopra’s latest venture is Ferrari Ki Sawaari – a sport based film starring Sharman Joshi, who will be making his lead debut in this film. Will it follow the Chopra tradition and journey to success is to be seen.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, owner of Vinod Chopra Films, grew up in Kashmir, India. Chopra could not speak English and by his own confession learned the language purely by watching Hollywood movies.
Thus began the tale of a man, who from not speaking a word of English, is today writing and directing his own Hollywood film – Broken Horses. Chopra studied film direction at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. His very first student short, Murder At Monkey Hill, won the National Film Award for Best Short Experimental Film and the Guru Dutt Memorial Award for Best Student Film.
His next film - a short documentary, called An Encounter with Faces, was nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Short Subject category in 1979. The rest of course is history. From an Academy Award to two Oscar nominations, Chopra has come a long way.
3 Idiots broke all opening box office records in India upon release. Within 10 days of its release, the film crossed the 1 billion mark in India and became the first film of 2009 to do so. To add another feather in Chopra’s cap, the movie grossed Rs 366 crore worldwide. Parinda, a movie discussing the real life of Indian underworld gangsters and the general life of residents in the city of Mumbai, is considered by many to be the turning point in reality in Hindi cinema. Eklavya: The Royal Guard was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars to be considered for nomination in the Best Foreign Film category for the year 2007.
Needless to say the Munnabhai series was probably the most loved and most appreciated series in the history of Bollywood. A fun, light and entertaining comedy – with a powerful message – this series is now soon to release a part 3.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s next film is Ferrari Ki Sawaari – a sports family film – and obviously has huge expectations attached to it. Will it live up to its hype?
